Mojalet Dance Collective previews European tour program in Rancho Bernardo

Recital features collaborations with Swiss percussion band Rhythm Talk

Faith Jensen-Ismay performs in the dance piece “Pulse,” faturing music by Rhythm Talk. Her company Mojalet Dance Collective performs “Pulse” and other works Nov. 3 and 4 in Rancho Bernardo. CREDIT: Mojalet Dance Collective

Faith Jensen-Ismay performs in the dance piece “Pulse,” faturing music by Rhythm Talk. Her company Mojalet Dance Collective performs “Pulse” and other works Nov. 3 and 4 in Rancho Bernardo. CREDIT: Mojalet Dance Collective

Mojalet Dance Collective “On the Move”

RANCHO BERNARDO  On Nov. 13, Mojalet Dance Collective will head to Europe for a two-week tour of shows in Switzerland and Germany, but before the dance company flies out, it will give audiences a sneak peek of the tour program this weekend.

Mojalet is a contemporary dance company founded 21 years ago by Poway dancer/choreographer Faith Jensen- Ismay and is now headquartered at The Vine, a performance space at the Bernardo Winery. Over the last seven years, Mojalet has collaborated frequently with Rhythm Talk, a percussion band led by composer Noby Lehmann in Olten, Switzerland. Many of the pieces in the “On the Move” tour — and performed this weekend at The Vine — feature music by Rhythm Talk.

Mojalet’s long history with Rhythm Talk was the impetus for the tour. The company was invited to present its Rhythm Talk dance pieces Nov. 15 at the 2012 Tanzinolten Festival in Lehmann’s hometown of Olten. Jensen-Ismay will present several dance workshops at the festival, and she has programmed several other dance concerts after the festival to fill out the tour.

For this weekend’s shows, the program will include a preview of “Guided Light,” which will make its world premiere in Olten. To co-create the piece, she filmed her dancers performing new choreography, sent Lehmann a DVD, and he composed music to the movement as he watched. He then sent the video and music back, and she has been fine-tuning the steps since. She describes “Guided Light” as “reflecting on the seen and unseen guidance that drives and guides oneself.”

Also this weekend, the company will present “Storm” and “Pursuit,” two large ensemble dance pieces set to music by Lehmann. “Storm” is about the “physical and emotional storms we face in life.” And “Pursuit” reflects on the “animal instincts in humans,” Jensen-Ismay said.

Other pieces that will be presented on tour (but not this weekend) are “Pulse” and “Mantis,” duets that marked the first collaboration between Mojalet and Rhythm Talk in 2005. Also on the tour program are “Search for Sustenance,” “Jubilee” and “Sometimes My Heart Aches — Sometimes Not.”

One of the highlights of the tour, Jensen-Ismay said, is a cross- continental collaboration with Czerner Dance Academy in Konstanz, Germany. That company is headed by Jensen-Ismay’s longtime friend (and fellow San Marcos High School alumnus) Peter Czerner. Jensen-Ismay created choreography that both companies will dance together, filmed her dancers performing the movements, and sent a DVD to Czerner for training. The two companies will meet up in Switzerland for a joint rehearsal, and then they’ll perform together in Konstanz.